• A Dream of Women, a 31-minute documentary on the making of the
film (30:25 in 1080P)
• Notes on CITY OF WOMEN, a 61-minute documentary about
Fellini’s film (1:00:18 in 1080P)
• Dante Ferretti: A Builder of Dreams, a 22-minute
documentary about the great production designer behind the
film (21:20 in 1080P)
• A 12-minute video piece with filmmaker Tinto Brass
discussing the picture (11:07 in 1080P)
• The original Italian and French theatrical trailers (3:37
/ 1:27 in 1080P)
• Substantial booklet containing writing on the film,
vintage excerpts, and rare archival imagery

• A Dream of Women, a documentary on the making of the
film (30:30 in 1080P)
• Interview with production designer Dante Ferretti entitled A Builder of Dreams, a
documentary about the great production designer behind the
film (21:24 in 1080P)
• A 12-minute video piece with filmmaker Tinto Brass
discussing the picture (11:10 in 1080P)
• The original Italian, French and re-release theatrical trailers (3:41
/ 1:39 / 1:30 in 1080P)
• 8-page leaflet

Bitrate:

1)Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' -Blu-ray
TOP

2)Cohen - Region 'A' -Blu-ray BOTTOM

Description: Federico Fellini’s epic 1980 fantasia
introduced the start of the Maestro’s delirious late period.
A surrealist tour-de-force filmed on soundstages and
locations alike, and overflowing with the same sensory (and
sensual) invention heretofore found only in the classic
movie-musicals (and Fellini’s own oeuvre), La cittą delle
donne [City of Women] taps into the era’s
restless youth-culture, coalescing into nothing less than
Fellini’s post-punk opus.
Marcello Mastroianni appears as Fellini’s alter ego in a
semi-reprise of his character from 8-1/2, Snąporaz. As
though passing into a dream, the charismatic avatar finds
himself initiated into a phantasmagoric world where women —
or an idea of women — have taken power, and which is
structured like an array of psychosexual set-pieces —
culminating in a bravura hot-air balloon that decisively
sticks the “anti” up into “climax”.

A great adventure “through the looking-glass,” as it were,
of Fellini’s own phallic lens and life-long libidinal
ruminations, La cittą delle donne sharply divided
critics at the 1980 Festival de Cannes, some of whom had
merely anticipated a nostalgic retread of the earlier
Mastroianni works. What they were greeted with, and what
remains today, is, in the words of Serge Daney, “a victory
of cinema”. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present
La cittą delle donne on Blu-ray and DVD in Gaumont’s
glorious new HD restoration.

***

In a railway coach Snąporaz (Marcello Mastroianni) wakes
from a nap and seduces a beautiful stranger. Then he follows
her through a forest to a weird hotel where a feminist
convention is being held. He is so unnerved by the
vociferous hostility of the militants that he hides in the
mansion of a female killer who has wooed and won a thousand
hearts. Snąporaz will be forced to run the gauntlet before
waking up and realizing that his adventure was only a crazy
nightmare. Fellini s surrealistic and over the top fantasy
earned him four Silver Ribbons by the Italian National
Syndicate of Film Journalists.

The Film:

In this dream-sequence film, renowned Italian director Federico Fellini
expounds at length on the nature, complexities,... attitudes, and
hang-ups of women and how this all relates to men "hunting" sexual
conquests. Snaporaz (Marcello Mastroianni) is traveling in a compartment
on a train when he lapses into sleep and dreams the ensuing story. He
follows a woman off the train and through a field and then loses her.
Soon, as a representative of the male sex in general he finds himself in
a hotel, among myriad women attending a feminist conference. Surreal
episodes take him through a villa with his alter-ego Dr. Katzone (Ettore
Manni, who died during filming) and references to his sexual exploits.
Reunited with his former wife for a moment, he starts another sequence
which reviews his past.

Will Fellini ever learn to count beyond eight and a half? As Snaporaz (a
discreetly ageing Mastroianni, still the alter egoist and flattering
mirror image of his director) dozes off in a train to be whisked through
a nightmare of ultra-militant feminism, here we are again on that
familiar gaudy treadmill of Barnum and ballet, circus and comic strip.
Yet if much of it verges on self-parody, a few of the set pieces are
superb (the Women's Lib congress, every word of which, swears Fellini,
was taken verbatim from feminist literature; the homage to the communal
masturbatorium the cinema used to be). In his martyrdom, Snaporaz
becomes hardly less poignant a creation than Ophüls'
Lola Montčs; and only a pinchpenny soul could denigrate the
generosity, the sheer fertility of the Maestro's invention in this
curate's egg by Fabergé.

Image : NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

City of Women
appears true to the source on
Blu-ray
from The Masters of Cinema arm of Eureka Cinema in the UK. This
is from a recent restoration and looks very clean with some
film-like thickness but also a bit waxy and there are some
artifacts. The image quality shows
minor grain and colors are a remarkably bright.
It is not glossy but has decent detail with some
depth and I would guess the 1.85:1 aspect ratio 1080P
transfer is a strong replication of the theatrical
appearance some 30-odd-years hence. This
Blu-ray
is okay in-motion.

NOTE: As noted by some people
in email there are compression artifacts/DNR visible and,
depending on your sensitivity to them, you may find them
distracting.

There
are some substantial differences with Cohen's video transfer
of Fellini's City of Women when compared to the
Master of Cinema from 3-years hence. While they have the
same bitrate, the Cohen seems to support the visuals better.
You can tell by toggling between the larger linked captures
below - I think most are exact frames and it's a bit
shocking to now see the poor-ness of the UK disc. It's green
cast, artifacts and what appears to be DNR-induced softness
and smoothness. Cohen image has more texture but it also
represents some compression, IMO although it has less
digital manipulation - probably more a reflection of the
source used. I lean to the Cohen as the superior but I think
both are imperfect.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

1)Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' -Blu-ray
TOP

2)Cohen - Region 'A' -Blu-ray BOTTOM

1)Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' -Blu-ray
TOP

2)Cohen - Region 'A' -Blu-ray BOTTOM

1)Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' -Blu-ray
TOP

2)Cohen - Region 'A' -Blu-ray BOTTOM

1)Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' -Blu-ray
TOP

2)Cohen - Region 'A' -Blu-ray BOTTOM

1)Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' -Blu-ray
TOP

2)Cohen - Region 'A' -Blu-ray BOTTOM

1)Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' -Blu-ray
TOP

2)Cohen - Region 'A' -Blu-ray BOTTOM

1)Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' -Blu-ray
TOP

2)Cohen - Region 'A' -Blu-ray BOTTOM

More Masters of Cinema Blu-ray
Captures

Audio :

Audio is in the
form of a linear PCM 2.0 channel track in original Italian at 1536 kbps.
It sounds fine with minimal effects projected from the film. Luis
Bacalov (still working today at 80!) did the score and it is
supplemented with Mary Francolao's "Una donna senza un uomo č"
and Gino Soccio's "The Visitors". I didn't notice any significant
sync issues and there are optional English (SDH)
subtitles and m

While the Cohen
video transfer is superior their audio is lossy (standard Dolby) and,
for some reason, doesn't support the film's audio and score with an
uncompressed transfer. It is not so much a poor quality as not being as
rich and full sounding as the UK Blu-ray.
The English subtitles are optional (via the remote) and it is region
'A'-locked.

Extras :

Masters of
Cinema really stack the deck with supplements. A Dream of Women
is a 1/2 hour documentary on the making of the film - like all the
extras is presented in 1080P and from Gaumont. Notes on CITY OF WOMEN
is an hour long documentary about Fellini’s film. There is a third
documentary - this one about Dante Ferretti, the famous production
designer notable for other Fellini films like
Ginger and Fred as well as more recent Scorsese works like
The Aviator and
Shutter Island. It is called A Builder of Dreams and runs
20-minutes. There is a 11-minute video interview with filmmaker Tinto
Brass discussing the picture and Fellini. MoC include the original
Italian and French theatrical trailers as well as a substantial booklet
containing writing on the film, vintage excerpts, and rare archival
imagery.

We get much the same extras as the MoC; the 1/2 hour documentary A
Dream of Women is likewise includes as are the Dante Ferretti: A
Builder of Dreams piece and interview with Tinto Brass. We lose the
hour-long Notes on CITY OF WOMEN, documentary about Fellini’s
film but keep the two foreign trailers gaining a re-release one and in
place of one of MoC typical substantial booklets Cohen include a simple
8-page leaflet. Advantage Masters of Cinema.

Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' -Blu-ray

Cohen - Region 'A' -Blu-ray

BOTTOM LINE: City of Women is Fellini through-and-through - quite sexy and... surreal
although not as carnival-esque as some of his other works.
Mastroianni makes it very fun - as do the gals. I enjoyed it
quite a lot, but suspect one should be in the right,
receptive, mood for maximum appreciation. The Masters of
Cinema
Blu-ray adds so much value with over 2-hours of extras. Those who know
what to expect from the latter Fellini efforts should
indulge and enjoy the atmosphere of ecstasy, ego and lust.
Recommended!

So we have a disparity in video - depending on your
sensitivities - a lesser, technical audio transfer and a
large, glaring, omissions in the supplements. For some I
suspect a combination on the two

Blu-rays
would be the ultimate package - if you were bothered by the
UK video transfer, you have the option of the Cohen, but the
rest would go to Masters of Cinema although Cohen do offer a
lot. The lossy audio is a head-scratcher.

Gary Tooze

February 18th, 2013

May 22nd, 2016

About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.